Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Chapter 407: Causes (II)

When Mr. Cai heard the emperor mention the tragedy of King Cheng, he was very depressed for a moment and remained silent.

Although on the surface it was the late emperor's sixth prince Li Ruining who caused the horse-frightening case and prevented them and their husband from having children, after the cause was found out, Cai Zhengqing and his wife let go of their resentment towards Li Ruining. The queen personally brought the sixth prince to apologize, and although there was an element of showmanship, her attitude was absolutely sincere. Moreover, the sixth prince at the time was just a half-grown child in his early teens.

The real reason behind this matter is that the eldest son of the late queen was made the crown prince early on, but he seemed a little flustered when handling state affairs, and things went wrong in the two tasks that His Majesty had recently assigned him.

At this time, news came that the eldest prince, the current emperor, had pacified the border threat caused by the Sand Tent Royal Court in Liangzhou and pushed the border line more than 50 miles to the west and north.

For a time, rumors were rife inside and outside the court that the eldest prince was a man of both military and literary talents, capable of shouldering a heavy responsibility. The crown prince felt enormous pressure, and so, under the advice of others, he took a risky move.

Although the eldest prince was much older than the sixth prince, the two brothers were born from the same mother. The eldest prince's doting on his younger brother could be said to have become his Achilles' heel, which led to the subsequent horse-frightening case.

It was precisely because of the eldest prince's favor for his younger brother that the tragedy of the Cheng Palace was indirectly caused.

After the eldest prince replaced the late crown prince and ascended the throne, except for the late crown prince who was imprisoned in the Eastern Palace by the late emperor and hanged himself, all other brothers and sisters were rewarded. Among them, the late crown prince's younger brother, the fifth prince Li Ruiqi, was named King Ying, the emperor's younger brother Li Ruining was named King Cheng, and even the fourth prince who had helped the crown prince to frame Li Ruining was named king. The late crown prince was posthumously named a king and was given a beautiful posthumous title.

Prince Cheng Li Ruining was smart and quick-witted since childhood. He liked to make friends with scholars and intellectuals. The empress dowager had always been kind to this youngest son. In addition, the emperor had a deep affection for his younger brother, so he was also doted on to the extreme. Therefore, he was spoiled in many things.

Before King Cheng was crowned, the Emperor and the Queen Mother both thought that the child was pure and innocent and hoped that he would be carefree, so they did not pay too much attention to arranging a marriage for him. They always felt that a child who was so used to freedom would feel uncomfortable being constrained after suddenly getting married.

After King Cheng came of age, the Queen Mother began to look for a suitable marriage for him. However, every time the Queen Mother mentioned marriage to King Cheng, King Cheng would always find various reasons to decline and unknowingly change the subject.

Later, rumors spread that Prince Cheng and Jiang Yinfeng, a well-known talent in Shengjing City, behaved intimately and ambiguously in a private room of a restaurant.

The rumor soon reached the ears of the emperor and the empress dowager. In order to avoid affecting the royal reputation, the empress dowager asked the emperor to directly issue an edict to grant the marriage. The empress dowager had always been optimistic about Liang Liru, the daughter of the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, and Liang Liru also admired Prince Cheng's talent. During a court event, Liang Liru had seen Prince Cheng from afar. She had always admired Prince Cheng's talent, and now seeing Prince Cheng's handsome appearance, she fell in love with him at first sight.

After a private conversation with the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, the emperor quickly issued an edict to grant the marriage.

Prince Cheng and Jiang Yinfeng have similar interests and are attracted to each other. How could they give in easily? They had a big fight with the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother felt that Prince Cheng had gone too far this time, so she sent people to keep Jiang Yinfeng under guard.

In the end, Prince Cheng had to compromise with the Queen Mother and agreed to marry Liang Liru obediently. The Queen Mother also agreed that as long as Prince Cheng took the royal family's reputation into consideration, she would turn a blind eye to his affairs with other men as long as no scandal arose.

On the wedding night, the Queen Mother was worried that Prince Cheng would pretend to obey but actually disobey, so she had Prince Cheng drugged. Prince Cheng was confused and obediently consummated the marriage with the princess.

But after the wedding, Prince Cheng couldn't find Jiang Yinfeng no matter what. He was as anxious as a headless fly. No matter how hard he tried to persuade the Queen Mother, she refused to give in.

In a fit of anger, King Cheng offered to go to the border. The emperor was torn between his mother and his brother, and finally felt that letting King Cheng go to the border to calm down and gain some good experience might help him truly mature.

However, not long after King Cheng arrived at the border, a large-scale war broke out. King Cheng ignored the dissuasion and led the troops himself, but encountered an ambush by the local people and eventually died heroically on the battlefield.

Later, I heard from King Cheng's followers that when King Cheng was heroically martyred, he shouted the last words: "Jiang Yinfeng, you and I are not destined to be together in this life. I hope that we can be born in ordinary families in the next life and become a pair of immortal lovers living in seclusion in the mountains!"

When the news of Prince Cheng's death reached Shengjing, the Queen Mother fainted on the spot. At this time, Princess Liang Liru was eight months pregnant. Upon learning the news of Prince Cheng's death, Princess Cheng cried every day.

A month later, King Cheng's remains were transported back to Shengjing. King Cheng's mansion was already drenched in mourning, and a mourning hall was built in the front yard.

Jiang Yinfeng, who was suffering from lovesickness, was heartbroken upon hearing the news of King Cheng's death. He went to King Cheng's mansion to pay his respects in mourning, but was stopped outside the mansion. During the argument, Jiang Yinfeng committed suicide for love and hit his head against the stone lions at the gate of King Cheng's mansion and died.

For a time, rumors were flying everywhere in Shengjing City. Princess Liang Liru had already spent a month in sorrow, and was so angry about these rumors that she had a miscarriage and died of hemorrhage, leaving behind a baby boy.

The Queen Mother and the Emperor both regretted separating Prince Cheng and Jiang Yinfeng during their campaign to eliminate violence. When the mother and son saw the baby sleeping quietly in the cradle in Prince Cheng's mansion, the Queen Mother covered her face and cried, intending to raise the baby boy herself.

Although the emperor was crying bitterly, he knew that he could not let the child grow up in rumors. In order to protect the child, the emperor discussed with the empress dowager and planned to quietly place the child in a secluded courtyard and have him taken care of by a wet nurse.

It was announced to the outside world that Princess Cheng had died for love for King Cheng, and everything about the child was covered up.

Afterwards, the emperor and the empress dowager discussed many times how to arrange for the child, but there was no satisfactory result. Until the emperor read the memorial submitted by the Ministry of Personnel, which included a list of officials to be promoted, the second one was Cai Zhengqing, who had served as the prefect of Zhangzhou for several years. An idea came to his mind.

The emperor planned to entrust the child to Cai Zhengqing and his wife. On the one hand, the couple had no children. On the other hand, the couple had a good reputation in Zhangzhou over the years and even took in a child who had become an orphan due to a flood. The fact that the couple could not have their own children was somewhat related to King Cheng. If the child was entrusted to the couple, it might be an arrangement by God.

After listening to the emperor's advice, the empress dowager thought of Cai Zhengqing's profound knowledge and Xiao's family's noble origins. She had a good impression of Xiao when she brought King Cheng to apologize, so she nodded and agreed to the matter.